Tongy Dungy? Retired

Ron Meeks? Resigned and now the DC for the Panthers

Russ Purnell? Gone

And with the recent retirements of offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd, many have wondered if this is too much to lose, all at one time?? Will they be competitive?? Will they be able to overcome all of the changes?? Will they suck this year?? Fans are curious.

Out of all the coaches gone, I think Tom Moore's departure will hurt the least. This team has a built-in OC in Peyton Manning. It's no secret that he basically runs the offense himself. While Moore would call a play to Manning's headset, you could almost bet your paycheck that Manning would change the play at the line of scrimmage, once he sees what the defense is doing.

This isn't to discredit Moore. He's been in the NFL for over 30 years, and it's clearly not because of his good looks, so he must be doing something right. But everyone, including Moore, knows this is Manning's ship and he's the real captain. I think the offense will be fine.

My question mark comes from the defense. While the Colts D' have only seen recent success, basically from the 2006 playoffs until now, Meeks was Dungy's right hand man in running the Tampa 2 defense. This actually may be a blessing in disguise for a team that was never stout on defense, but it's not always the system that needs to be tweaked. Dungy was a defensive mastermind. Sometimes it requires the right players. I'll be looking closely at how the defense fairs.

But the biggest question is, how will Jim Caldwell fare as the new head coach?? Caldwell has huge shoes to fill. Dungy was regarded as one of the league's top coaches during his tenure with Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. His retirement and current winning season streak adds a lot of pressure on Caldwell.

Mix in multiple coaches no longer with the team, and I smell pressure. That's a hard hit to take no matter what organization you are, but to be a rookie head coach and lose guys who you've had a re pore with already would make nervous.

So how do I think they will fare??? Well since Manning has made his displeasure of the departures verbal, coaches Mudd and Moore are looking to return to the Colts as coaching consultants. But will be be enough to help Manning and Co on the field?? The good thing is the Colts play the NFC West, one of the league's weaker divisions. The bad thing is, the Colts play the Patriots and the resurgent AFC East, in addition to their own competitive AFC South. Indy has always been a high powered offense, but if the Colts continue to be at the bottom in rushing (they finished 31st in rushing in 2008), sans Marvin Harrison this offense can be in trouble. Defensively, how they will fare is similar to a crap shoot. It could go either way on any given Sunday. But hopefully with Caldwell's previous experience with the team and players leadership such as Manning, Reggie Wayne, Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney the team can overcome the adversity that sits right at their front door.

We'll find out soon enough when week 1 gets here.